To Dwell on Dreams
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Ianto has a nightmare. Luckily, Jack is always there to help him out. Sort-of coda to Adam.


**Author's Notes: This turned out a bit longer and sweeter than the intended drabble – not that I'm complaining. Written by a request on Tumblr and, given that I've recently written Ianto taking care of Jack, the opposite one was also in order. I hope you enjoy it and, as usual, let me know what you think!**

Jack had just started dosing off when he felt Ianto move in the bed next to him.

Usually, if they'd had a particularly tiring day, Jack knew that he would have been out cold hours ago. As it was, though, he had been staring at the ceiling ever since Ianto had fallen asleep (rolling off of him after a rather intense bout of lovemaking with an expression satiated enough for Jack to still smile to the thought of it two hours later) and immediately turned to the side to look at his lover.

Ianto was only partially illuminated by the street lamps and the moonlight outside, his eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks and his fingers clutching the duvet to his chest. His face was contorted into a frown, though, and as Jack watched he whimpered once more, a bodily shiver piercing through his body.

"Ianto?" Jack brushed his fingers over his cheek lightly. "Ianto, wake up!" There was no reaction barring a few more whimpers and then a flat out scream as Ianto's eyes shot open, wide and terrified. "Shhh," Jack said gently, sitting up in the bed and pulling Ianto with him until his trembling body was wrapped in his arms. "Shhh, calm down. Don't worry, it's not real. It's just a dream."

"It didn't–" Ianto coughed violently, as if choking, and Jack ran a hand through his dark hair, trying to comfort him. He could almost hear his heart thumping in his chest, fuelled by terror and frantic fear. "It didn't feel like one. It was so real, I–"

"Calm down," Jack repeated, the hand that had been stroking Ianto's soft strands now straying down his back. Ianto's body was tense and rigid, as if he was afraid that he'd fall apart if he moved too quickly. "You'll be okay. It's all right." When Ianto didn't react, he decided that he could prod a little. His mother had always said that a shared problem was half a problem, and he decided to launch that into action. "Do you want to tell me what is it?"

Ianto shook his head violently. "I don't think it's a good idea." He gave a shaky laugh. "Funny to think I've had dreams of Daleks and Cybermen and all sorts of terrors, but nothing had terrified me more than this one."

"You can tell me," Jack coaxed softly, voice as quiet as possible as not to scare him even more than he already was. "I could at least– I don't know. Try to help. The burden's lighter if you share it."

"I killed someone, Jack."

Well, that was unexpected, at least for the nightmare department. Ianto had killed before – he didn't like doing it, of course, but it had still happened. He'd never mentioned being as frightened by it as he seemed now.

"And it wasn't even one of our cases," he continued. "It was a girl, walking home from a night out or something like that. There was this dark alley and I just–"

"Hey, hey," Jack shushed him, tightening his hold around him. "You've done nothing like that, okay? And you never will. You're too good of a person for that."

"But what if I have, Jack?" Ianto looked up, eyes so innocent and inquiring and yet so scared that it broke Jack's heart. "Maybe I've done that before and my mind was so terrified that it chose to forget."

Jack gave a deep sigh. "Do you trust me, Ianto?" He asked and saw confusion cross over his lover's features.

"Yes, of course," he said as if it was obvious. Jack filed it away for figuring out on a later date and tried to ignore the stab of surprised pleasure he felt for it.

"Then trust me on this now. You're not a murderer. For God's sake, you don't even kill aliens if you can help it. There's no way you'd kill unsuspecting people in dark alleys."

"Maybe there's a side to me you don't know, Jack," Ianto challenged and Jack allowed himself a smile.

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a second," he said. "There are many, many sides of you that I still want to explore. But trust me when I say this: despite everything you've done – or think you've done – wrong, you're one of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever known. I've seen you kill people, Ianto. You wouldn't do anything like that unless someone you love is in danger, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ianto nodded after a moment of consideration. He still seemed a bit unsure, but he was getting around to it, which was the most important thing right now.

"Great," Jack said, fondly ruffling his hair and smiling when Ianto squirmed away from his touch. "Now wait here, okay? I'll be back in a minute."

He climbed out of the bed and headed for Ianto's barely used kitchen, quickly finding everything he needed. He wasn't the best of cooks, but he was still light years ahead of Ianto who could hardly boil an egg without something exploding. The Captain smiled to himself again. The defender of the world who lives on fruits and instant soups unless someone's there to cook for him.

The sun was just rising above the city by the time Jack carefully brought the plate into the bedroom. Ianto looked up from the book he'd picked up from the nightstand and his eyes widened. "Jack, what've you done?"

Jack shrugged. "You woke up screaming. I figured a breakfast in bed was in order."

Ianto gave him a wide grin and Jack leant in to kiss him as he tried to balance the food on the bed between them. He sat down next to his lover and smiled as Ianto deepened the kiss and then pulled away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jack said, voice just a bit too dreamy. Ianto's hair was sleep-ruffled and soft, his eyes still a bit clouded by the dream he'd just had and his crooked smile lit up his face and really, Jack was more sure than ever that he'd been right about him. Hell, he thought, even if Ianto walked up to him and told him he'd killed someone, he'd go to hell and back again to prove him wrong.


End file.
